


Happy Together

by quellthefire



Category: The Magicians (TV)
Genre: And spoils her so much, Boyfriends adopt a dog, El becomes such a dog mom, Eliot is unsure, Happy Family, M/M, Professor Q, Quentin wants a dog so bad, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-23
Updated: 2019-02-23
Packaged: 2019-11-04 13:43:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,741
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17899190
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quellthefire/pseuds/quellthefire
Summary: Quentin tries to convince Eliot to get a dog with him, but El is unsure. He falls in love with a cute corgi and ends up spoiling her.Slice of life happy boyfriends, inspired by a tumblr ask prompt.





	Happy Together

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to tumblr user @e3105eb for asking me to write this.
> 
> They sent two prompts for drabbles, and because I'm an overachiever I ended up using both for a 1,700 word fic:  
> “You can’t banish me! This is my bed too!”  
> “Dogs don’t wear clothes!”
> 
> Edited to add: They are freaking amazing and ended up doing fan art based on my story. Please check it out and support them! They’re amazing and holy crap these are hilarious:
> 
> https://eeios.tumblr.com/post/183444554290/quellthefire-eeios-i-few-doodles-i-did-of
> 
> This fic briefly references Penny23 and Julia being together, but it's so inconsequential to the actual plot that I decided not to include it in tags.

At first, it had taken Quentin weeks to convince Eliot to let them get a dog. He’d gotten the idea one night when they were over at Julia and Penny’s for dinner, and Julia introduced their new beagle, Molly. Quentin had immediately fallen in love with her, nuzzling into her short, soft fur. He’d spent all night with his legs crossed on the floor, petting her and sending very pointed looks to Eliot, who pretended to be way more interested in his wine and the stories Julia recounted about her 1st-year grad students than he’d ever been before.

Quentin had spent the next evening talking about how happy Julia and Penny seemed with Molly. How they were a complete family. It was painfully clear that Quentin wanted a dog.

Eliot had nothing against pets, but being raised on a farm gave you a different perspective on animals. Cows, chickens, sheep were all raised to produce; whether it be milk, eggs, wool, or meat. Cats and dogs served a purpose as well; hunting mice, protecting the herd, and alerting you if a stranger came on your property. He’d grown up seeing animals as tools of livelihood, and had far too many experiences of having to put a sick calf or cat out of its misery at a young age.

And besides, they’d spent the last couple of years saving the world every few months. This was the first time since Eliot had met Quentin that they’d had time to just settle into a comfortable routine. He liked their life together just fine, thank you very much.

But then Quentin had started showing him feel-good stories of blind puppies who were rescued after storms, or a three-legged dog who had walked halfway across the country to reunite with its family. And Eliot had to admit that seeing Quentin coo over puppy videos made him feel soft and warm. Q had gone through so much, had sacrificed so much. They both had. And seeing Quentin’s face light up made Eliot start to wonder if having a dog would be the worst thing in the world.

So he started looking at local adoption sites, scrolling through the new listings whenever Quentin was teaching his classes or working on grading.

There was Hercules, a 3-year-old boxer with a goofy grin and floppy ears; and Leah, a timid looking cattle dog who had a gorgeous tan coat; and Miguel, a tiny 5-year-old Chihuahua that Eliot could imagine curling up with at night. 

He hadn’t intended to keep looking, but it became part of his daily routine. Quentin would grumble about having to get up and put on pants to go teach unruly 20-year-olds, while Eliot got to work from home as a consultant for a Magician-run liquor company. He spent most of his work day fiddling with the recipes on the spirits they distilled, and the rest developing signature cocktails to be made with said spirits. He was incredibly skilled at it, and was lucky to not have to go into an office most days.

But it also got lonely, being home alone when Quentin was at Brakebills, so he found himself checking the adoption websites and researching training methods more and more. He kept thinking about how happy Quentin was every time they saw a dog, and how he wanted Q to be that happy all the time.

One night, after Q had a particularly grueling day, Eliot surprised himself during dinner, exclaiming, “I think we should get a dog.” 

Quentin about choked on his water. “I know, I know,” Eliot continued. “I was resistant to it at first, but I’ve warmed to the idea. And I think you’re right. It would be good for me. I spend a lot of time at home alone and I miss you. Having a dog would complete our family, I think.”

Quentin sputtered and looked confused, then jumped up to hug him. “El! I knew you’d come around.” He kissed Eliot, holding El’s face in his hands, and pulled away, grinning. “When should we start looking?”

“I may have already started…” Eliot said sheepishly. He loved how excited Quentin was.

They spent that night combing through the local rescue sites, set on adopting a medium-sized dog that was a couple years old. 

When they saw Clara, a 3-year-old corgi who had been neglected by her previous family, they fell in love. The rescue organization described her as sweet and loving, but with some separation anxiety. ‘She’s been making great strides in being comfortable around new people, but Clara needs a forever home where someone will be with her most of the time to help ease the transition,’ the website read.

They fell asleep talking about what the next steps were.

The next day, Eliot contacted the non-profit organization to set up a meeting. Over the next couple of weeks, they went through an application and screening process. The fact that Eliot worked from home was a huge plus on their application.

The first time they met her, she was curious but a little nervous. Clara immediately attached herself to Eliot, however, when he offered her a treat. “Hey, it’s you when you first met me,” Eliot said to Quentin, trying not to laugh at the tickle of her tongue licking his palm. She was eager to get every last morsel of the snack he’d offered.

Quentin had rolled his eyes, but couldn’t stifle his grin. Seeing Eliot like this, pure joy on his face, made him fall in love just a little bit more.

They had a few more visits, including some in-home ones, over the next few weeks. Clara was skittish at times, and it hurt their hearts to see the effects of her former family. But she always warmed up as soon as the treats came out, and they could see a change in her comfort level with them. 

The day they finally got to take her home, Eliot had refused to put her down. He insisted on carrying her everywhere, much to Quentin’s chagrin. Quentin had assumed that Eliot was mostly agreeing to getting Clara because it made him happy, but he quickly realized how wrong he was. Eliot had insisted on buying armfuls of toys for her, and a plush bed, even though she slept on their bed every night.

Every morning Eliot popped out of bed to take Clara out for her morning walk, and often Quentin would come home to find El cuddled up on the couch with her, watching tv or making notes for work. Quentin had always been the animal person in the relationship, but Clara had become Eliot’s baby, and it made him so happy to see El take care of her.

__________________

One night Quentin came home from work and was greeted at the door by Clara, who was dressed in a lavender onesie, tail wagging and a big goofy grin on her face.

Stepping into the entryway, he called out “El, why is Clara in pajamas? Where did you even get the onesie from?”

Eliot, who was apparently in the kitchen chopping vegetables by the sound of it, called back “She’s in a onesie because she looks adorable in it and she loves it, and I got it today, when I was picking up more treats for her.”

Quentin was a little annoyed. “Dogs don’t wear clothes! And she has enough treats already,” he said as he walked towards the kitchen.

“Clara can wear whatever she wants!”

“You mean whatever you want her to wear,” Q reached Eliot and kissed him hello.

Clara, for her part, was just excited that her name was being said so much because it meant a walk might be happening soon.

Looking down at her, Quentin conceded, “She does look really cute. Like she’s ready for bed.”

“Exactly!” Eliot replied, “And you doubted me!” That made Quentin laugh, and he bent down to pick up Clara, kissing her soft fur.  
__________________

Life had settled down, and they had gotten into a comfortable routine with Clara. Every night she’d settle onto the foot of their bed, snuggled up with their feet, and snoring quietly. 

A couple weeks into the second semester, however, Quentin got an awful cold that kept him up all night. He could hardly breathe through his nose, and just felt miserable. 

“You’d think Magicians would have come up with a way to eradicate colds,” he grumbled to Eliot over breakfast.

“Yeah, but then where’s the suffering? Hey, maybe this will help juice up your power,” Eliot teased back.

He was miserable all day, struggling to teach with a hoarse throat and pressure in his head. Quentin couldn’t stop thinking about how good it would be to go home and snuggle into bed, and eventually decided to just cancel his last class of the day. The students hadn’t minded, of course, because it gave them a chance to start their Friday night drinking early.

By the time he got home, he was about ready to collapse from how awful he felt.

He half-stumbled to their bed, and Clara dutifully followed behind, eager to be picked up so she could take a nap with him. Quentin was half asleep when Eliot wandered in, looking concerned.

“Get away, I don’t want to infect you with my plague, El.”

Eliot chuckled and rested his hand on Quentin’s forehead, checking his temperature. “I thought I was supposed to be the dramatic one in this relationship. Move over and I’ll come rest with you.”

“Nope,” Quentin said thickly, nose so stuffed up it was hard to understand him. “Clara needs her beauty rest and I don’t wanna get you sick too. You’re sleeping on the couch tonight, sorry.”

Eliot wore a mock look of surprise, “You can’t banish me, this is my bed too!”

“And yet I am. Now be quiet, Clara’s trying to sleep,” Quentin said through a sleepy smile.

“Well if it’s for her, I guess I have to,” Eliot replied as he adjusted the covers. “Good night, then.” He kissed the top of Q’s head and then left the room.

Quentin still felt like death, but it was a little easier now that he was home, wrapped up in blankets with Clara keeping his feet warm. He had almost forgotten what it was like before they had her. She really did help complete their little family, he thought as he drifted off to sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> I started this pre 4x05 and finished it after the episode came out. Now I just really wanna see these boys end up happy and in love and living a comfortable life.


End file.
